5 Things I Hate on Mainstream Websites

31 Responses to “5 Things I Hate on Mainstream Websites”

• West123on April 09, 2009 11:38 am

  I exit the website I’m on almost every time I see I need to register, its a huge pain when all I wanted to do was make a couple comments on one game.Or when I need to register just to play that simple text based game.

• Suzanneon April 03, 2009 10:12 pm

  Registration is welcome if the content is good enough to support multiple visits and joining. It keeps spam down. Ravelry.com (as an example) requires registration and the forums there are some of the most civil I have ever encountered.
  If the site doesn’t look worth returning to, though, I just pass on by.

• DIYon December 18, 2008 10:56 am

  I agree with the hate towards registering to view the content. I hate that. Why? Why do it. I don’t mind pop-ups so much because my firefox browser blocks them all.

• Kacey Greenon December 08, 2008 9:21 am

  Sorry I’m a month behind in my feed reading.

  I don’t mind breaking articles or posts into multiple pages as long as it isn’t excessive.

  Good: tech reviews with more than two products one product per page plus an intro and conclusion.

  Bad: MSNs “top 10” or 15 articles on whatever the subject is, its just a slideshow with one tiny graphic and a blurb of text, some have a print option and the longer ones usually make you go through every single page now they’ve started making the last “next” go to an ad or more of these silly articles. I can’t remember the last one I read through without the print option.

  Also acceptable are long articles I figure if there are lets say 75 paragraphs I don’t want them all on one page as a reader, but do make the print option put them all back to one page so my printer can break them up without me having to click next and print repeatedly.

• goodwebguideblogon November 17, 2008 8:59 pm

  I hate pop ups but saying that, it’s not really an issue anymore with all the pop up blockers around. I don’t know about you but the software I use pretty much lets me surf without problems whatever the level crap trying to get through. Number 5 is crazy, even more so if your just stating out. And number 3,,, I thought it was better to create your own content than link to some else.

• Daniel Scoccoon November 15, 2008 8:16 am

  @Codrut, guest blogger :)? That is my site hehe.

• teamrayon November 15, 2008 1:37 am

  I hate number 5 the most and usually exit the page when i see that you must registered .

• Daniel Richardon November 14, 2008 7:44 pm

  Yet again, its cos’ of all the 5 things mentioned there that newer blogs can take the advantage of by doing otherwise and grow our new community of readers without having to go through all the unnecessary troubles to get a free subscription of the site.

• Montyon November 14, 2008 12:44 pm

  Thanks for the tips! They’re awesome ! 😉

• Codrut Turcanu / Blog for Profiton November 13, 2008 8:27 pm

  Man… cool tips on there as a guest-blogger.

  I wonder, how many readers/visitors those post bring you from techcult?

  I like the 150 flash games post 🙂

• Adam Pieniazekon November 13, 2008 8:30 am

  Read that list via reddit the other day and did not even notice you wrote it! Agree completely with all the points, but especially forced registration. There’s been many times where I just bounce away from the page because they require registration, their loss.

• daniyon November 13, 2008 1:47 am

  Agree with you, Daniel! Mainstream websites often fill their pages with various ads. Some of them using flash which took my browser a liltte longer to load. I got issues with slow internet connection. And that pop up, ads? That s**ks…

• Andyon November 12, 2008 11:51 pm

  I hate pop ups and sites that require an account. Many e-commerce sites do this and I want to order without an account. They want to grab my data so they can market me. I hate it!

• untreatableonlineon November 12, 2008 11:02 pm

  I have never understood why someone would make their readers go through the hassle of registering before they can comment. On more than one occasion I was getting ready to add my opinion then find out I need to register first so in the end I just moved on to another site.

• Nick Stamoulison November 12, 2008 3:41 pm

  many website loose focus sometimes and it seems like greed takes over. It is nice to see some worried about quality versus quantity.

• Aravind Jose T.on November 12, 2008 2:36 pm

  The worst are:

  1. Breaking stories in many different pages to increase the number of impressions

  3. Not linking to the sources or mentioned websites

  5. Requiring registration to access the content

• Adam Singeron November 12, 2008 1:34 pm

  I dugg this and voted it up on Reddit…great stuff Daniel, you’re a star.

• LuAnnon November 12, 2008 12:38 pm

  You rock!

• Kathy @ Virtual Impaxon November 12, 2008 12:37 pm

  Pop-ups SUCK (there’s a reason Firefox blocks them by default)

  Asking me to register to comment is like asking me to NOT comment

  Forcing me to view an advertisement is like asking me to leave.

  Not linking to sources is another way to get me to leave AND unsubscribe! (Link love is a GOOD thing and earns my respect!)

  Asking me to page through page after page to get to your content – is just another cheap way to expose me to your ads. I hate cheap tricks as much as the next person.

• Frankon November 12, 2008 12:36 pm

  OK, I’ll buck the trend here. I agree with 99% of what you say but I’m not against breaking up big posts into multiple pages. I read a lot of technical/software reviews on the web. I like it when they page something like this (lots have drop-down nav also)

  – intro
  – product 1
  – product 2
  – product 3
  – results/conclusion

  Then I can go directly to the conclusion and then back to the product that looks good. I usually don’t have a ton of time to read so this kind of organization (while it may generate more page views) is much better IMHO.

• Sohailon November 12, 2008 10:42 am

  I don’t like popups(even if you are asking to subscribe)
  I don’t like to REGISTER to comment no way.
  I don’t like adds everywhere.
  I don’t like theme with many graphics or a broken theme
  I don’t like to go to sites that don’t get updated quite often.
  I like rich content more than anything

• Tom Lindon November 12, 2008 10:25 am

  Many people make the mistake of blogging for money and stuff their blogs with ads, instead of creating good content for the readers.This is a poor strategy.

• Nimbleon November 12, 2008 8:50 am

  Same here. I hate all the above five points. I left visiting many websites due to these factors.

  I appreciate blogs / content websites with simple and easy interface. I trust those websites more and I also try to use their recommended services.

• Ryoon November 12, 2008 6:02 am

  Ads don’t have to be annoying.
  But the most thing I hate, is when there is no link to the source or the particular product the article is about. I hate that.

  No content without registration? No way. I never would use such a site. But fortunately, I’ve never discovered ay site out of beta which did that. They never going mainstream with this, normally.

• Ryan Jarretton November 12, 2008 6:01 am

  I think some sites are still stuck in the old dialup mentality when they split large pages into several smaller ones. But in todays broadband world, speed and bandwidth are less of a factor and most connections can easily handle a long, media-rich page.

  I think ads are a necessary evil, but there are good and bad ways of going about implementing them on a site. I think splash pages generally are a bit old fashioned and often slow the user experience. Pop-ups can be useful, but are often plain annoying and, more often than not, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

  Not linking is possibly the worst problem on the list in my opinion. Every day I will read several articles on large, mainstream sites that cite a source or accompanying material, but have no link to them. This is the Internet; connectivity is the key and hyperlinks are free, so use them. Not only are you helping the reader, but you’re also helping your references survive by sharing some Google juice.

  Site registration is a mixed bag. If a site has good contents, and the registration is fairly minimal (e.g. email and password) then I’m fairly happy to subscribe. However, some sites want all personal details, medical history, favourite food, etc. before you can get past their landing page. Not a good way to do things. It also helps if the site provides further benefits (newsletter, forum registration, etc.)

• Husseinon November 12, 2008 5:30 am

  Required registration is ok if I will benefit something from it.

• SATISH — Technotip.orgon November 12, 2008 5:17 am

  I was a regular reader of TechCult for some time, when it was launced. But after sometime, I just forgot about it!
  Subscribed to TechCult 🙂

  We too hate popups.

  Breaking news in multiple pages to generate page impression, will ruin the visitors impression about the site.

• Ryan McLeanon November 12, 2008 5:15 am

  required registration is a pain in the ass on any website. Not only do you have to sign up…but every time you go to the website you have to login to access the content…

  it SUCKS

• dianon November 12, 2008 4:49 am

  Yeah me too!!!
  i really hate it when they break stories in to pieces, worst when it comes to pictures, like dividing 10 pictures in to ten click! usually i choose to click the available print button so the content will on one page.

• Husseinon November 12, 2008 4:39 am

  Agree with you. Better making a post in single page rather than breaking them in parts. I’m also hating those websites with pop-up ads.